The Art of Racing in the Rain
Chapter 34
Summary & Analysis

LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Art of Racing in the Rain, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.

What It Means to Be Human

Language and Storytelling

Love and Family

Illness and Death

Destiny and Spirituality

Summary

Analysis

Enzo begins to relate his story. He says the police took Denny to a small windowed room inside an office, just like on Law and Order. After taking fingerprints and photographs, they left him for hours with nothing to distract him. Enzo wonders if Denny despaired, or if he realized what it's like to be a dog and understand that being alone is not the same as being lonely. Enzo likes to think that he was alone but not lonely, and that he didn't despair.

This series of events is obviously fabricated, and Enzo takes the opportunity to further discuss the difference between humans and dogs with this dramatic story. The reader is asked to consider the difference between being alone and being lonely, and also consider the dramatic heft carried by that statement.

Active
Themes

Then, Mark Fein burst in, started shouting, and bailed out Denny. On the street, Mark demanded to know what the charge was about, and Denny replied that she's lying. Mark asks if he had intercourse with the girl, or if he penetrated her with anything. Denny refused to answer. Mark said that this charge is part of a plan—that a sex offender is not in the best interest of a child. He demanded that Denny be at his office the next morning. Denny, angry, asked where Zoë was, and Mark answered that Trish and Maxwell got to her first. When Denny says he's going to get her, Mark snaps that he can't do that, he also can't leave the state, and definitely shouldn't look at any other 15-year-old girls.

It seems as though Denny only spends a few hours in jail, but that doesn't mean he escapes without a sentence. Remember that these events are all fabricated by Enzo, but consider the intent behind this exchange. We learn that Denny can't see Zoë, and he can't leave the state, which means he can't participate in any driving or racing events that don't take place in Washington. We also learn that Denny's legal battle is going to be significantly more difficult than he originally believed.